Girl with Red Hair
by Esquinzo
Summary: Jenny, Gibbs, a child, a mystery. Not the usual storyline. Actually not me but RoguesWeAre came up with something better concerning the title xD. Jibbs.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I really wanted to say thank you again for the great responses I got for A Christmas Story, I hope you'll like this one just as much. The title 'Jibblet' is just a working title till I come up with something good. Same for the chapter titles, but you'll get that. The chapter themselves will be a bit shorter than usual cause I haven't that much time at the moment, but want to update this story regularly. Enough said, enjoy your read.

* * *

Chapter one: A tall man stepping out of the elevator.

_October 2005_

He looked up, sighed, and looked down again. The constant bickering was getting on his nerves, and on top of that, Jenny was angry at him for something he had done but couldn't remember, so there was no way he could go up and hide in her office for the next two hours.

During the last weeks since she'd come back as director they'd learned how to be friends again, and he was surprised at how easily they had succeed. Late night dinners in her office as well as a few drinks after hours in his basement weren't rare anymore, and Gibbs found it almost scary how effortlessly they had etablished those routines again.

He picked of his cup of coffee again, jolting it violently. It didn't make a damn sound. He sighed again, rather angrily now, crumpled it and tossed it at the garbage bin. He cleared his throat, effectively shutting up the bickering of his team around him.

Grabbing his badge and jacket, he shouted a grumpy 'Going for coffee' over his shoulder before he hit the button for the elevator.

The doors opened, revealing his redheaded ex-partner and an intimidated looking probie. He grinned at the young man's facial expression. It was hard to believe that a federal agent could be so afraid of a petite woman like Jenny.

"Jen." He greeted pleasantly, coming to stand next to her as he blatantly ignored the curious stares of the scared probie. "You wanna grab some coffee?"

She nodded, her features a bit softer than they had been just moments before. "Don't think you're forgiven just yet though."

He shrugged, smirking smugly. They both knew he wouldn't apologize, firstly because it was against his rules, and she didn't expect him to, and secondly, if she was honest, she couldn't remember the cause of their little _disput _herself. He put his hand on the small of her back, softly leading her out of the building.

They talked about anything and everything on their way to the little coffee shop around the corner, just like they'd done when she'd been his partner. It had an air of nostalgia over it all, but neither of them minded. Jenny laughed a lot during this short time, the guarded expression he saw so often nowadays leaving her eyes.

"You wouldn't think that DiNozzo is so stupid. I don't know why he could come up with somehing as idiotic as that, but really, who would want to get pregnant just because it'd be his kid? I still can't believe that he actually asked her that. No wonder she broke it off."

She laughed again, she did know about this story already, just not in so many details. Probably everybody in the building had heard DiNozzo's now ex-girlfriend screaming at him, and almost everybody was making fun of him because he'd _offered her he could get her knocked up if she wanted a child provided he didn't have to change his lifestyle._

"You ever thought about having kids Jen? I mean really, not just for fun?"

She stopped dead in her tracks, looking at him with guarded eyes, unseeingly, for a moment. Her voice was husky, unsteadily, and as she finally answered, her right eye twitched. "_No_."

Jethro watched her warily, as far as he knew she had no reason to lie, so why would she? He nodded nonetheless, storing her reaction away for further use.

* * *

As they stepped out of the elevator, they were joking and laughing again. They stood in front of his desk, still talking and occasionally taking a sip of their coffees, mostly ignoring the bickering and betting behind them.

"Who's coming out of the elevator next guys? Abby, Ducky, Palmer?" Tony asked spinning around in his chair.

Jenny raised an eyebrow at him, fixing him with an icy glare. "I don't think I pay you for making bets Special Agent DiNozzo."

"Let 'im be Jen, they ain't got nothing to do." She sighed, making a waving motion with her hand as to say 'go ahead then'.

DiNozzo gave her one of his famous flirtatious smiles, having the good grace to at least look sheepishly at the angry stare Gibbs gave him. "Thank you ma'am. So probie, what do you say? Our mistress of the dark, the doctor who knows all the stories a human being can possibly know or the weird autopsy gremlin?" He announced like the quiz master in some talking show.

"I'd take a tall man in black suit with a" he paused curiously, waiting for the man to step completely out of the elevator so he could see whoever was behind him, "little redheaded girl."

At this the whole team, including Jenny and Gibbs looked over to the elevator.

"_Oh my god._" The director said, almost running towards the pair.

"I'm looking for a Jennifer Shepard." The man announced.

"That's me." She said, extending her hand as she made eye contact with the girl.

"Ms Shepard, my name is John Roberts, I'm with Social Services, this is Hannah Carter."

"I know who she is." She replied, crouching down in front of the little girl, brushing a few strands of her out of her face. It was a dark red, a shade darker than hers maybe. "Hannah, honey, what's up?"

Suddenly the girl looked at her, really looked at her, and it was like some kind of change went through her. She started to shake and sob uncontrollably, crashing into Jenny's arms. She held her to her, letting the child's tears stain her shirt as she mumbled incoherent words to her, stroking her back in a soothing motion.

"What happened to her Mr Roberts? Where are Susan and Thomas?" He shook his head, looking at the girl in her arms with pity.

"Mr and Mrs Carter died in the early hours of the morning. They were in a car crash. Fortunately Hannah wasn't in the car. I'm sorry for your loss Ms Shepard."

"What will happen with her?"

"She didn't say a word since we picked her up and told her about her parents, but Mr and Mrs Carter named you as her legal guardian in case something should happen to them, so I'd say she stays with you for the moment, provided you want to take her in of course."

"Of course. Does she have anything with her?" Jenny asked, still with the little girl in her arms.

"She has a bag with a few clothes and toys in the car."

"Jethro, could you..." She began, but was soon to be interrupted.

"Course Jen. Shall I get her a coke or so while I'm at it?" He asked.

"Hannah? Sweetie, you wanna have something to drink?" The little girl just shrugged, looking at Jenny with a hollow expression in her eyes. "Get her some juice and a cheese sandwich." He nodded and went over to the elevator while the redhead picked up the girl and carried her up to her office, Roberts trailing closely behind.

* * *

Gibbs entered her office, like always without knocking before, a child's backpack pending over his shoulder, a bag with food in his hand. Jenny and Hannah were sitting on the couch, the girl on her lap, Roberts opposite to them in one of the comfortable leather seats. He stood up, bending over the table to shake her hand.

"I will call you myself concerning the papers. I think Hannah will be in good hands."

Jenny smiled softly at the child, then she turned to Roberts again. "Thank you." She said sincerely. The man just nodded before he exited the office, shaking Gibbs' free hand in passing.

The Special Agent nodded at him, then he went to the two females in the room, taking the food out of the bag.

"Juice and a cheese sandwich for you, young lady, Ceasar's salad and a coke for Jen." He said before he pulled a sandwich and a coke for himself out of the bag.

"So Hannah, how old are you?" He asked, eyeing the little girl up and down. She didn't acknowledge him or his question, just buried her face in Jenny's neck, abandoning her food for the time-being, so he looked questioningly at Jenny instead.

"She is five, her birthday was a month ago."

Gibbs nodded, chewing for a moment, then asked his next question. "You knew her parents well?"

Suddenly she had a lump in her throat. She swallowed heavily, memories showering on her. A Parisian hospital, the couple she'd come to know so well. She was in unbelievable pain, worse than she'd ever thought it'd be, almost begging for a c-section. Then nothing, maybe she'd passed out, she wouldn't know. And suddenly, a cry, a tiny baby's cry, _her _baby's cry. They'd wrapped her in a yellow blanket, putting her into her waiting arms. She' caressed her cheek, counted all of her little fingers and toes, showering her in kisses.

"Jen? You okay?"

She gulped again, collecting her thoughts. "I met them in March 2000. We've been in contact ever since."

He nodded, feeling that there was something else, something she wasn't telling him. "So you've been just friends?"

Jenny nodded, casting her gaze downwards to the little girl on her lap again. "We were good friends. Stayed in contact no matter where I was. I didn't want to miss one second of her life." Her voice got lower towards the end, almost descended to a whisper. She stared unseeingly ahead again.

They'd come to an agreement. Carters had wanted kids but hadn't been able to conceive and she had gotten pregnant by a married man. She'd wanted to see her child, no matter she wouldn't raise her, and they had been willing to provide that for her. So she had given her little baby girl to another woman. She'd seen her as often as she wanted and could, cheerishing every moment she got with her. Hannah had sometimes called her Mom, sometimes Aunty Jenny, as if she wasn't sure who she was to her. She'd wanted to change that, wanted to be there for her period, but they'd kept sending her to places all over the world. Then she came back to DC as the director, and suddenly everything was so much easier.

"She's a lucky little girl then." Jethro said, and she smiled. It somehow made her happy to know that he considered her _good _enough to have such an impact on a child's life.

"You think?" She asked smilingly.

"Got you in her life. Why wouldn't she be." Jenny laughed, clutching the small redhead a little tighter to her chest.

"What a charmer, isn't he Hannah." The girl looked up and nodded, her lips turned upwards a bit at the corners of her mouth at the adults' antics. "Don't you ever get involved with a sweet-talker like him." She looked at the older redhead with wide eyes, then over to him, and he was shocked for a moment, at the intensy of her stare and the blue of her eyes. Hannah yawned loudly, pressing herself further into Jenny's chest.

"You wanna go home honey?" She asked, and the girl nodded, yawning again. "You'll have to stand up to do this Hannah, I can't possibly carry you to the parking garage."

She shook her head.

"Hannah-" Jenny tried again.

"It's okay Jen, if it's alright with Hannah, I can carry her down to the parking garage." Gibbs suggested.

"Jethro, your back-"

"I wouldn't have suggested it if I hadn't meant it Jen. Shall I carry you Hannah and Jenny'll take your backpack and your other stuff?" The girl eyed him warily, then she nodded, still hesitant.

"Okay then." Gibbs said, picking her up from Jenny's lap. The redhead took the girl's stuff and opened the door for Gibbs, leading them through Cynthia's outer office.

"Can you cancel or postpone all my appointments for the afternoon please Cynthia?" The afro American woman nodded, already picking up her phone. "Have a nice day Director. You too Agent Gibbs."

They went down to the parking garage in silence, neither of them feeling the need to end the quiet with words.

"I don't have a booster seat for her Jethro." She announced suddenly, not really sure if she had said it out loud.

"Take one of the seats in the evidence garage." He replied. Apparantly she had then. Jenny jumped out of the elevator at the level of the evidence garage. She wasn't really comfortable with leaving Hannah with Jethro, he might notice something. Booster seat in hand she was back not even two minutes after she left them in the elevator.

After Hannah was securely seated in the car, Jethro opened her door for her.

"Can we talk for a minute Jethro?" She asked, closing it again.

"Sure, what about?"

Jenny sighed, brushing a hand through her hair. "Hannah's _father_" she swallowed nervously, her eyes twitching a bit, "Hannah's father, Thomas, he was a Marine, Staff Sergeant, that makes this case NCIS' jurisdiction. I'd like you and your team to look into their deaths please?"

He stared at her, nodding almost unnoticeable. There was something she wasn't telling him.

This was his chance to find out what.

* * *

_So what do you think? I'm trying not to write the usual 'Jenny's got knocked up in Paris - Jethro meets his daughter/son - miraculously everything's forgiven' type of story [although I always enjoy to read those], but something at least slightly different. If you have anything you don't want to have in this storyat all__, feel free to tell me, I'll try to take that into regard. Thanks for reading._

_Please leave a review!_


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, especially to RoguesWeAre for the suggestion for a title. I shortened it to "_Girl with Red Hair_", I hope that'll be okay with you?

Please notice that I changed Hannah's age from six to five - even I know you can't be six if it's 2005 and you were born in 2000...

**-DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN NCIS OR ITS CHARACTERS!- HAHA, I FORGOT IT AGAIN. SOME COULD THINK I DID IT ON PURPOSE :D-**

* * *

Chapter two: Nature and Nurture

_October 2005_

Jenny was driving more carefully than usual through the nighty streets of Washington DC, one eye always on the little crimson haired girl on the backseat. Hannah was peacefully sleeping in her booster seat, a grey stuffed donkey tucked under her chin. When Jenny'd seen the donkey in a window somewhere in Germany during a few days of downtime after a long, exhausting mission, she'd instantly thought of her daughter, the innocent little girl living far away in DC. She'd taken out her wallet and bought it, giving it to Hannah for her second Christmas. At that time the soft toy had been almost as tall as the girl herself.

Jenny smiled faintly at the memory. So much had happened since then. Hannah wasn't fifteen months old anymore, and the people she'd known as her parents had died, leaving the little girl with a woman she'd only known as a sporadic guest in her life so far. The woman who was her actual mother.

The older redhead sighed. She often wished she had been able to care for her daughter herself, but seeing as that was impossible, this had been the second best arrangement at the time. With Hannah's father being married at the time and she herself having an extraordinarily dangerous job, she had had no choice. Nevertheless it'd hurt her hearing her little girl calling another woman _mommy_, when she herself had been Aunty Jen since it had become too confusing for Hannah to have two moms.

And now she had to live up to the expectations of a five-year-old girl who'd had the perfect life so far.

She pulled up in front of her house and parked her car in the drive way. She'd sent Stanley home earlier tonight, she hadn't wanted Hannah to meet yet another earnest looking man in a suit, so similar to those who'd told her about Susan and Thomas.

There weren't any lights on in the house, Noemi had long since gone home, and there wasn't any man in her life. She woke the little girl softly, buckling her out of her booster seat and picking up her backpack with one hand, with the other she took Hannah's hand, leading her to the Brownstone.

"Are you hungry sweetie?" Jenny asked lowly as she helped the little girl out of her coat. She didn't get a verbal answer, just a hollow look out of the child's eyes. She picked her up and carried her to the kitchen, placing her on the counter next to the sink. "We're having some hot choclate with marshmallows, okay?"

The redhead didn't wait for an answer, just started to prepare the sweet treat, aware of the girl's eyes on her.

"Aunty Jenny?" She looked up, startled, she hadn't expected Hannah to talk.

"Yeah honey?" She pulled the pan with the milk from the stove before she turned to the small girl. Hannah reached with her arms out for her, and Jenny picked her up willingly, letting her hide her face in the crook of her neck.

"I miss my mom and dad." Jenny just nodded, holding the child tightly to her. Hannah was small, petite as Jenny herself, but that and the color of their hair were the only similarities they shared.

"It's okay to miss them honey. I miss my parents too."

"Are both your moms dead or just one?" The child asked curiously. The older redhead looked at her, not really sure what she meant.

"Both my moms?" She echoed finally.

"Like mom always said you're my mummy too, you just couldn't be there all the time, but you loved me nonetheless. So I wanna know if both your moms are in heaven now or just one."

Jenny was still for a minute, just tightly embracing the girl in front of her, her daughter. She'd never been more grateful for having met Susan and Thomas at the right time. They'd done so much for her, not only raising her girl, but also making sure she knew about her _real mom_. That she knew about her. That she knew she loved her, more than life itself.

"You're a very special little girl Hannah, there aren't much children who have two moms." Her voice was husky, raw with emotion as she began to speak. "I wasn't as lucky, I only got one. She died when I was a little younger than you are now. But I've always known she loved me, just like Susan, your other mom, will love you too."

"So how does it come that I got two?" The smaller redhead asked. Jenny sighed. She definitely hadn't gotten this curiosity from her.

"When I had you-" She broke up again, noticing Hannah's confused look. "I was with you when you were born, that's why I am your mother. We were in danger, and I wanted you to have a safe life, and because your parents couldn't have kids on their own, we decided it would be best for you if you had just two moms, me and Susan. That's how you came to live with them."

Hannah nodded, seeming satisfied for a moment before she wrinkled her forehead again. "And now we are looking for a new second mom for me?"

Jenny stared at her, shell-shocked. "No, no. I, you and I, we aren't in danger anymore, you stay with me." She looked at the girl again. "Do you want to stay with me?"

"Yes mom." She tightened her grip on her mother, fisting her hands in her mother's shirt.

Jenny dropped a kiss to the crown of her head. It felt good to be her mom again, to be called mom again.

And she felt bad because it was because of her little girl's _other mom's _death.

* * *

_NCIS Headquarters, Navy Yard Washington DC; 07:30 hours the next day_

"DiNozzo, you're late!" Gibbs belowed, making his Senior Field Agent jump in surprise.

"Er, I didn't know I had to be here at 07.00 boss. I thought we didn't have a case." He tried to elaborate apologetically.

Gibbs fixed him with a good glare, then he took a sip of his coffee and barked at Tony. "Do I look like I care DiNozzo? The director told me to look into the car crash that killed Hannah's parents, so you better get working."

DiNozzo nodded hurriedly and sat down at his desk, booting his computer. "So what have we got till now Boss?"

"David, tell him what we have, I'm going to ask the director a few questions." Gibbs shouted over his shoulder before he jumped up the stairs, taking two at a time. The agents in the bull pen cringed as they heard the door to Cynthias outer office being slammed shut. The elderly Special Agent was just about to tear the door to Jenny's office open as the woman in question did it herself.

"I'd appreciate it if you were a little bit more quiet. Hannah's sleeping on the couch in my office, and after this night she needs it."

He looked a little closer at Jenny. Indeed, she had dark shadows under her eyes, probably because she'd been up half of the night. "Nightmares?" He asked lowly.

"Inter alia." She grinned a bit. "That means among other things, Jethro."

He gave her an icy stare, trying to intimidate her, but her grin just grew wider. "I knew that Jen."

"Keep telling that yourself Jethro. Anyways, when I got her to sleep without waking up every five minutes it was already three o'clock in the morning. Then I got a call from SecNav at about six, so I took Hannah, let her stay in her PJs, grabbed a spare set of clothes and a few toys for her and came here. Then SecNav called again to tell me that all he wanted was to talk about my budget meetings last week. I was about to strangle him through my phone. Honestly Jethro, if he'd stood in front of me at that moment, I'd have put a bullet into his skull."

She heard a faint gasping behind her head agent and turned her head a bit, finding a slightly paler than usual Cynthia sitting at her desk with wide eyes.

Jethro chuckled, taking her elbow and leading her into her office. "You have just given your assistant the scare of her life."

She just shrugged, looking at Hannah's still sleeping form on the couch, Gibbs following her gaze. "I will adopt her as soon as possible."

He nodded, he'd expected that. Maybe because she seemed so devoted to the child, maybe because she seemed to have been good friends with her parents. "I have a few questions concerning Susan and Thomas Carter."

Jenny nodded, it only had been a matter of time till he would come up to see her and demand answers. "What do you want to know?"

He leaned back against her desk, pulling her next to him. "You told me you met them in March 2000."

"And your question?" She asked, raising a perfectly manicured eyebrow at him.

"That's a long time. More than five years. What do you know about them? Their friends, families?"

She wrinkled her forehead a little, thinking about how much she could tell him. To the public eye they had been friends, good enough friends for them to leave Hannah in her care in case something would happen to them, so it was only normal that she knew a lot about them and their lives.

"As far as I know Thomas' parents are dead, he was an only child. Susan had a little sister, she's living somewhere in Canada, but they'd had a huge fall-out and hadn't talked again since then. Her father died a long time ago, he was Army, like my father-" She stopped briefly, reminding herself that he didn't know anything about her family, about her past. "-anyways, he was Army and died on duty. Her mother's dement, she's living in some home somewhere in New York where Susan is from."

He nodded, occasionally taking notes on a small ringbook. "How came you got to be her legal guardian?"

She licked her lips nervously, considering how she could tell him the truth without actually admiting anything. "I've practically known Hannah since the day she was born. Maybe it was just a natural consequence? I'll get full custody of her, that's all I care about."

Gibbs eyed her warily. Her right eye didn't twitch, but he was sure she wasn't telling him the whole truth either. "So how come-"

He didn't get to finish his question, as Hannah had begun to scream and toss around on the couch, obviously having a vivid nightmare.

"Mom!" She cried, again and again, each time her voice was a little bit more distressed. He watched, oddly detached, how Jenny rushed over to the little girl and took her into her arms, craddling her to her chest. She stroke her hair, trying to calm her down or at least wake her up, all the time muttering soothing words into her red hair.

"I'm here Hannah, sweetie, wake up, I'm here." Suddenly Hannah casted her eyes open, latching onto Jenny while she was still sobbing uncontrollably.

"Mommy, Mommy!" She cried hysterically.

"Shh, it's okay, I'm here, it's okay Hannah." She let the girl cry on her lap, kissing her forehead and her hair.

He found it weird that she didn't try to explain the situation to her, that she didn't tell her that her mother wasn't there, instead adopted that role herself. Gibbs crouched down next to them on the floor, putting one hand on Jenny's back while he soothingly stroked Hannah's back in a quiet attempt to console her.

* * *

"What have you found out?" Gibbs asked when he came back into the bull pen. The scene in Jenny's office had emotionally drained him, he kept seeing Shannon consoling Kelly. It didn't help that Hannah seemed to have some strange resemblance to his late daughter. Although she had red hair while Kelly's had been brunette, there was something in her eyes that just screamed _familiar_.

"I checked all their bank accounts, credit card billings, and their mobile phones, but I haven't come up with anything. Thomas only called his Marine buddies from time to time, Susan called the director and a number in New York regularly. I didn't get to check that though." McGee rambled.

"That won't be necessary McGee, she was calling her mother. What have you done?" He asked, turning to Ziva and Tony.

"I've looked into their medical files and found something remarkable." She brought a few documents on the plasma screen behind McGee's desk. "Those are the medical records of Susan Carter. At a first glance everything appears normal, but then I digged further. Hannah's birthday is on September 1st, 2000, but there aren't any check ups or appointments with an OB/GYN prior to that. I called her primary care physician and he told he that Susan Carter couldn't have kids. That anew leads to the question who the hell are Hannah's parents and if maybe her father is her biological father."

Gibbs nodded. "Are there any official papers that they have adopted Hannah legally?"

Ziva shook her head. "I didn't find any."

"So we have to assume that they have adopted her illegally and that maybe her biological parents killed Susan and Thomas Carter to get a hold of her?" Ziva nodded. "Is it public knowledge around their friends that Jen is Hannah's legal guardian?"

DiNozzo raised an eyebrow. "I checked that. _Jen_ isn't that well-known around their friends, probably because most of them only know she was some kind of a godmother to Hannah, but other than that all they know is that she had to work all around the world a lot during Hannah's first few years."

Gibbs inclined his head to Ziva who in turn headslapped Tony for him. "Thank you boss."

The elderly Special Agent just nodded. "So they aren't in any immediate danger. Someone will get us a DNA sample from Hannah, I think our napkins from yesterday evening are still in the bag in Cynthia's office." He looked at Tony sharply.

"On my way boss. I just hope I won't have to rummage through the garbage bins." He muttered while he went towards the stairs.

"DiNozzo? If you don't find them right away ask _Jen _for a sample."

* * *

It didn't take long for Tony to find the bag with the rests of yesterday's dinner, including a few napkins. Bringing them down to Abby, he called his latest booty call, cheerfully humming while he waited for her to pick up the phone so he could break up with her. He'd met this gorgeous blonde the night before and-

The elevator doors opened and blaring music was all around him before he had the chance to talk to his newest soon-to-be ex-girlfriend. After Sandra had broken up with him because he thought she wanted to get pregnant, he hadn't really been himself, rather going out with his frat brothers than a date and while nursing a beer musing over this castastrophic misstep. Not that he'd really thought it was something serious, she had been married after all, maybe not happily but married nonetheless. It was just that he couldn't stand everybody making fun of him.

"Abby, I got something for you. Here are a few napkins with DNA samples of our esteemed director, the little redhead, and our boss who obviously had dinner together in her office yesterday." He announced, woolf whisteling lowly.

"And what shall I do with these?" The goth asked, happily taking the bag from Tony while she jumped from one place to another.

"We'd like to know who Hannah's biological parents are."

"She's adopted?" Abby asked, stopping dead in her tracks. "Who wouldn't want such an adorable little girl?"

"The question is rather who she was taken from because the Carters wanted her so much. She wasn't adopted legally."

"Oh. Then I'll do it right away." She answered, her bright green eyes full of sympathy for the small girl.

* * *

It was about three hours later when Gibbs mobile rang. He was currently on a coffee run after he'd frustratedly fleed the bull pen. The team hadn't been able to find out anything else and the guys in the evidence garage hadn't found anything suspicious concerning the car. So they were all waiting for Abby's results now.

"Gibbs." He barked into his cell.

_"Hey my silver-haired fox. I've got big news for you."_

"You found out who Hannah's biological parents are?"

_"I did."_

He wrinkled his forehead. It wasn't like Abby to just forgo any rambling and be straight to the point. "So?"

_"Maybe it's better if you see for yourself."_

* * *

_So I hope you liked this one and I haven't promised too much when I said I wouldn't use the usual story line._

_Please leave a review and tell me what you think._


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, I really appreciate every single one of them, even if I wasn't able to thank all of you personally. That includes the reviews to _Giving Diane A Coronary_ too. I hope you'll enjoy reading this chapter just as much.

* * *

Chapter three: Shocking discoveries

He was still staring at his phone incredulously. His mind was reeling with the possibilities, best cases, worst cases, everything in-between. She could be the child of wanted criminals, of people he, they knew what would certainly explain Abby's reaction, or of honorable citizens who wanted their child back. Who would take her away from Jenny.

He hadn't seen them together that much, but he knew Jenny well enough to see the carefully hidden love in her gaze whenever she glanced at the little girl. If they ripped her out of her current environment, they would both suffer, Jenny maybe even more than Hannah.

Jethro took a sip of his blazing hot coffee, burning the back of his throat. The pain was nothing compared to the one of losing a child. He walked faster, suddenly anxious to put whatever it was behind him. He chunked the empty cup in the bin and took the elevator down to Abby's lab. The eery silence as the doors opened seemed like a bad omen as he made his way over to the entrace of the lab.

He found the gothic scientist in front of her computer, her usual cheerful expression nervous as she span around when he cleared his throat.

"Gibbs!" She exclaimed, trying to at least sound normal.

"Where are the others?" He asked warily, not at all sure anymore if he wanted to know whatever Abby had to tell him.

She fidgeted with her coat a bit till she looked up, her big green orbs boring straight into his eyes. "I thought that maybe it would be better if I told just you for the time being and you can decide who you want to know."

He nodded at her, his expression hard and unreadable as he met her gaze curtly. "Okay. So what have you got?"

"Just- just press the enter key, you will see. I'll wait outside, maybe you'll want a few minutes to yourself after that." She said as she hurried out.

"Abby!" He called after her. "Just tell me what you find out! What does this have to do with me?" But she'd already hurried down the hallway.

* * *

He stood in front of the computer for a long time, not doing anything, just staring at like it was something offending. Slowly he lifted his hand, placed his finger on the key and pressed enter, the screen coming to live in front of him

The images of three DNA analyses appeared on the screen, two of them labeled, the one on the left with Jennifer Elizabeth Shepard, Director of NCIS, the one on the right with Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Senior Special Agent, NCIS. He knew those images, usual they identified criminals like that.

He watched in morbid fascination as the labeled images began to move, his gut suddenly churning. They met in the middle, laying over the third image underneath which a name appeared. _Hannah Jennifer Carter. _

His first thought was _I haven't even known she is named after Jenny._ The second _Why would her parents, no matter if it was the biological ones or the Carters, name her after her?_

He looked at the screen again, it was the last sentence that had appeared on the screen that hit him the hardest.

_Hannah Jennifer Carter is to 99,98% the daughter of Leroy Jethro Gibbs and Jennifer Elizabeth Shepard._

* * *

She hadn't immediately realized that he wasn't there anymore. She had felt his hand on her back, silently offering his own brand of comfort, as if he just knew how hard this was for her. That she wasn't sure her daughter was crying out for her or for Susan, and that it was killing her on the inside.

She had watched in amazement when he'd soothingly stroked Hannah's back, joining her in whipering sweet nothings to the child, but had soon focused on her girl's needs again. When she'd looked up again he'd been gone. She hadn't thought too much of it, thought that maybe he'd come back later, that maybe his team had called him.

Jenny looked over at Hannah, she seemed to be calmer now. She had her stuffed donkey tightly in her left arm while she was coloring with her right hand, the traces of her tears still easily visible on her cheeks, but her eyes weren't as red anymore.

She sighed, she couldn't really bring herself to do anymore of her paperwork, and she was quite tended to just for once do it like Gibbs, only signing it so that she could take her daughter and go home at a reasonable time.

Looking at the files she sighed again, she couldn't answer for some criminal getting off on technicalities when her agents had risked their lives in the field to arrest them.

Jenny stared at the clock for a minute. She would work for another hour and a half, the rest she would leave for tomorrow.

* * *

It took all he had for him not to crumple down on the floor. He felt lightheaded, nauseous even as he thought about the secret she'd kept from him more than five years long.

She had deprived him of the first five years of his daughter's life.

Gibbs gulped hard, and suddenly the nausea vanished and wild, raw fury claimed its place. She'd not only just not told him about his daughter, she had abandoned her, given her to strangers. He hit the table in front of him, cursing violently.

Five.

That was more than half of Kelly's life.

Kelly. Kelly when she'd been five. Brunette, not redheaded, no freckles, instead always slightly tanned like him. But blue eyes. Bright, shocking blue eyes and an intense stare. Her eyes were so much like Kelly's it almost hurt him to just think about it.

The fury mixed with confusion as the thoughts raced through his head, leaving him breathless. His mind felt crammed one instant and absolutely empty the next, and then it came to the forefront of his mind.

Europe - Paris.

When she was five now, then she'd been conceived in Paris. In Paris where Jen'd left him. He felt lightheaded again.

Had she left because she had been pregnant - or because she hadn't known?

He felt like yelling, crying, destroying Abby's lab. Like yelling at her, making her stand up for what she'd done, for what she'd put him through. For what she'd put _their _daughter through.

He thought back to the moment in Jenny's office, Hannah tossing and turning on the couch, crying, and Jenny rushing over to her, not telling her that her mother wasn't there because in fact, she was. Jenny had been there, hugging her, comforting her. She had been there, just being her _mother_.

Jethro wondered if Hannah knew about her paternity, about Jenny being her mom, and if she knew, did she knew about him too?

He stared at the screen unseeingly for a long time, imgaes bluring together in his mind. Shannon pregnant with Kelly, he and Jenny in a small attic in France, Kelly riding a horse, running around, laughing, her head tossed back. Kelly's face, morphing into Hannah's.

Kelly was dead.

"Gibbs?" Just thinking hurt.

"Yeah?" He answered huskily as he turned to Abby.

"What will you do now?" She asked, coming towards him. She hugged him tightly for a few seconds, but not as bone-crashingly as usual.

"I don't know yet Abby. I don't know if I confront her." Abby nodded, seemingly calm, but he could detect the hint of fury in her eyes. "Don't be angry at her Abby." Gibbs said gently, turning to the computer again.

"How can you say that? She's taken a child from you for fucking five years! How can you be so calm?" The goth shouted and he eyed her suprised - he hadn't thought she could act out like that.

"Abby-" he broke up, not really sure how he should voice his point. "Our relationship wasn't _normal _by any means. It wasn't purely physical, but we didn't really do the talking part either, so maybe there were reasons, maybe she was afraid to tell me. I'm just glad she didn't have an abortion." He added the last part lowly. He didn't think he could have ever forgiven her if she had had an abortion.

A living child was something completely different than a dead child.

Abby stared at him, nodding, the fury in her eyes slowly vanishing. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Can you delete the search?" He asked, and she turned instantly, her fingers flying over the keyboard. "And can you keep this to yourself to the time being? Tell the team the search came up with nothing."

She nodded again, giving him a last long look and he bent forward, kissing her cheek lightly.

"Thank you Abby."

He meant it.

* * *

Having done all the paper work she had needed to Jenny took the time to just watch her daughter coloring a few moments before she got up to go over to the conference table in the middle of the room. She sat down next to her daughter, stroking her hair as she admired the carefully colored pages of the book.

Maybe she could pin one of her drawings on one of the walls in her office, now that everyone knew she had a child it wouldn't draw any inadvertent attention to it.

"You wanna go home Hannah?" She asked lowly, her own voice sounding eerily loud in the quiet office. The little girl nodded, and smiled up at Jenny, a childlike, toothy grin. They began to pack Hannah's various belongings in her bag, then she took her hand in hers as she led her through the outer office and out on the catwalk. She looked down at her daughter, the donkey she'd gotten her in her arm. She was glad she had her with her now, just wished it had been under different circumstances.

They took the stairs down to the bull pen, Jenny's eyes searching for the silver head of hair of a certain agent, but couldn't make him out in the room underneath them. She found it weird that he hadn't come back once again, it wasn't like him to just disappear.

"Special Agent DiNozzo?" She asked, coming to stand behind the divider behind his desk, Hannah beside her peeking past it into the bull pen. "Do you happen to know where Special Agent Gibbs is?"

"He went for a coffee run some time ago, hasn't been back yet. Maybe he's with Abby or Ducky?" He gave back, waving at Hannah who was smiling sweetly at him. "She really is a looker Director. I'm sure she'll break hearts later."

Jenny laughed, looking at her daughter, then at DiNozzo. "Let's worry about that later, shall we? Have a nice evening." She nodded to the team and picked up Hannah, turning towards the elevator.

* * *

He didn't know for how long he'd stopped the elevator. Just standing in the quiet of the confined space he thought about what he should do. No matter how much he wanted to storm up into her office, yelling at her, demanding her reasoning, he could understand what he'd said to Abby.

She had had no reason to believe that what they had had been more than just a brief fling for him, he had been married at the time, although he wasn't sure if she'd known that, and never actually told her what she meant to him. He'd loved her in a way, he knew that now, but he hadn't been able to bring himself to say the words himself. Then she had gotten pregnant, knocked up by a man who'd had not only a wife back home in Washington, but was also her boss. If word had come out, her reputation would have been ruined.

He thought back to their last days in Paris, they'd had a few days of downtime after a mission that could have easily killed them both. They had been meant to kill a Russian arms' dealer couple, and after he'd made his kill, he'd gone searching her when she hadn't come back to the hotel. He'd found her in ally behind the bar Svetlana had disappeared into, hiding in the shadows. She'd mumbled incoherent things, something about her target telling her something, so he'd sent her to their hotel while he waited for her targent, making her kill himself.

In that night she'd changed. When he'd come back something had broken inside her, and the next morning she'd spent most of her time in the bathroom, vomiting. When she hadn't been herself again after a few days, he'd sent her to see a doctor, when she came back she'd gone back to normal.

They had gone ice skating the next day, it was one of his happiest memories of them. It had been December, everywhere had been lights, illumintating the cold Parisian night. There had been a glow about her, her smile radiating, warming his heart.

A few days later, she'd changed again, had become more thoughtful. Then suddenly, one morning, she'd been gone.

* * *

He hit the switch again, the elevator jolting back to life. The doors opened, revealing the very redhead he'd just thought about, Hannah in her arms, waving and beaming at him.

Gibbs swallowed hard, eyeing them up and down. He could see the similarities between Hannah and Jenny, the red hair, even though Hannah's was a bit darker, the freckles on the bridges of their noses. He looked more precisely, and suddenly he could see Hannah's face morphing into Kelly's again, becoming aware of similarities, attributes they had to have gotten from him, things he'd never noticed about himself.

"You going home?" He asked.

Jenny shrugged, watching him intensely. Something was off, she could feel it. "Not sure. Maybe we're going shopping a bit, I don't know yet. What do you think honey?" She asked, touching her finger to her daughter's nose. The little girl just smiled at them both, not really caring what they would do.

"You wanna go ice skating?" Jethro suggested, an air of nostalgia suddenly over them.

"What about Hannah?" She gave back.

"_We_'ll look after her?"

"Then we'd love too." She replied smiling. He nodded contently.

"Just let me get my stuff, I'll meet you here."

He'd come to a decision. First he would get to know his daughter, if Jenny trusted him and wanted to tell him, she would. Otherwise he could still confront her lateron.

* * *

_I'm still having trouble with my computer. If I rediscover the original version, I think I'll post that cause I think it was better than that is. Otherwise here is the third chapter. I hope you enjoyed reading nonetheless._

_Please tell me what you think and leave a review!_


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I could just write 'see last chapter for Author's note' 'cause I'm gonna write the same as every time anyways but here it is nonetheless: Thanks to all who took the time to leave a review, favorited or put this story on alert, especially to Iuzy who left a review every time.

* * *

Chapter four: Swimming relevations

_January 2006_

It had been almost three months since Susan and Thomas Carter had been killed and Hannah came into his life. At the beginning he'd spent every free minute he got at work looking into their deaths, trying to find justice for the two people who'd practically raised his daughter so far. After work Gibbs spent more time out of his basement than ever, instead of building his latest boat he used his time to get to know Hannah and Jenny to trust him.

So far he thought it'd worked. It was hard on him that whenever Jenny brought the little redhead with her to work, she would come by at least once and he couldn't shower her in affection like he wanted to cause officially her biological parents were still unknown. So naturally he'd been glad when one day Jenny had embraced him in a spur of the moment hug and ever since then Hannah had adopted that for her.

"Jethro? Are you daydreaming?" Gibbs looked up, right in the amused emerald-green eyes of one of his two favorit redheads who was standing in front of his desk.

He just gave her one of his crooked half smiles in response, picking Hannah up as she reached out with her arms for him. "Wouldn't dream of it." He said and was almost surprised to hear her laughing at such a corny line. The little girl obviously hadn't gotten the joke as she just looked around quite blankly but finally started to grin too, probably in amusement about the two adults' antics.

"Jethro? You wanna do me a favor?" She asked slyly, her voice slightly teasing.

He quirked an eyebrow at her, leaning down to Hannah as if to whisper something in her ear. "What do you think Hannah, has your mommy gone mad?" The little girl giggled at her mother's expression what in turn made Gibbs chuckle and his team look at them in surprise. They had become used to a more laid-back Gibbs whenever he was around the two redheads, but chuckling or a genuine laugh in front of them were still few and far between.

She looked at him, her small face serious as she watched him wide-eyed again, then she shook her head. Jethro shrugged good naturedly then he turned to Jenny again. "Well mylady, how can I be of use?"

If possible her eyebrow raised even higher as a grin appeared on her face. "So well then my knight in shining armour-" she stopped briefly at DiNozzo's snickering in the background to send a murderous glare his way, shutting him up effectively, "-I need a babysitter for Saturday morning. I have a meeting with SecNav and the directors of the FBI and the CIA in my office and I don't want to have to take her with me."

Gibbs nodded. "I'd like to. What do you think Hannah, we could make a trip? Maybe go swimming?" The little girl beaming at him was the only confirmation he needed. "You could catch up on us later when your meeting's finished?"

"It's a deal then." Jenny said playfully extending her hand for him to shake. He took her hand, holding it in his maybe a bit longer than strictly necessary.

"You fancy dinner tonight?" He asked suddenly.

"Dinner or take out, boat and basement?" She gave back.

"Got bourbon to offer too." Gibbs answered gruffly but smiling nonetheless.

"Then it's a deal."

* * *

It was quarter to midnight as they sat in his living room watching _The Tonight Show With Jay Leno _while Hannah was peacefully sleeping in the upstairs bedroom. The little girl had been out like a light just after dinner which had consisted of Chinese take out and bourbon for the adults and soda for her.

"Jethro?" She murmured quietly, her voice sounded slurred and laced with sleep so Gibbs wasn't really sure if she was asleep and dreaming or not.

"Jen?" He asked back just as quietly.

"I gotta get Hannah and go home. I have to be at the Navy Yard at around seven tomorrow morning." So she was awake then. But nevertheless talking nonsense.

He quirked an eyebrow and grinned down at her head. He felt her shifting so that she rested more comfortably against him. "Just sleep Jen. I'll wake you early enough in the morning, then you can even take a shower while I look after Hannah."

She mumbled something incoherent and his smile grew wider as he looked down at her and saw her eyes closed. He lay down on the couch and pulled her with him, letting her tuck herself into his side before he covered both of them with a blanket.

"Sleep tight Jen." He muttered, pressing a kiss to her temple.

* * *

The rest of the week was a blurr. In-between a cruel triple homicide and the teenage son of a Navy Captain being abducted Saturday came sooner than Gibbs had expected so that he hadn't really had the time to dwell on the night spent together on his living room couch at the beginning of the week.

He cast a glance at his watch; it was nearly nine o'clock so he still had about half an hour before he had to be at Jenny's to pick up Hannah. Like he'd initially planed, he would take her swimming, something Kelly had always rather enjoyed.

He had a small smile on his face at the thought of his late daughter. Nowadays the memories weren't as bitter anymore, and he had quit fighting them down, instead he held them dear, enjoying them while they lasted. He had told neither Jenny nor Hannah about his family, but he'd shown the girl a few of the cards Kelly had sent him for father's day when he was away fighting for their country and they'd listened together to his oldest daughter playing the piano on tape.

It had felt right doing this for Hannah, like introducing her to Kelly in some weird way. He just wished Jenny would finally open up to him about her paternity so he could really be her dad, and not just some friend of her mother's which she -admittedly- liked a lot.

Gibbs opened his wardrobe, looking for his hardly used bathing trunks. The last time he'd actually gone swimming had to be years away, probably back in the day when he and Jenny were over in Europe. They'd spent their first two days in Positano, Italy, at the beach - the third he'd caught a round to the thigh and hence spent the rest in their apartment.

He grabbed the trunks and tossed them at his bag, then added a towel, a bottle of water and some food and zipped it shut.

About fifteen minutes later he was at Jenny's, ready to spent the day with his daughter.

* * *

It didn't really hit him that he was responsible for her and everything she would do before he was actually crouched down in front of her, thoroughly going through the bag Jenny had packed for her and he couldn't find any floaties. He eyed the little redhead up and down, trying to decide if Jenny had just forgotten them and he'd have to buy a pair for her or if she really was that advanced of a swimmer that she could do without them.

Finding no way out of his dilemma Gibbs decided to just ask.

"When did you learn how to swim?"

Hannah looked at him, then at her hands, counting her fingers as she tried to decide how old she had been. "Two years ago?" She asked back sceptically, staring at him as though she was expecting him to tell her whether she was right or not.

Jethro stared back and shrugged. "Can you swim one lap in the big pool?"

She gave him a cold glare, eyebrow quirked, hands on her hips, and he had to bit back a smirk because her looks at that moment were so alike Jenny's when she was outraged that he wondered how he had been able to not realize she was her daughter the moment he saw her.

Gibbs nodded, looking her straight in the eye. "Stupid question. Of course you can."

She raised her other eyebrow too, again looking like Jenny's mini-me as if to say _obviously_ before she took his hand and dragged him towards the big pool.

They swam back and forth about two or three times, he couldn't tell anymore later on as he had been too focused on detecting any possible threats to his girl, before Hannah decided it would be more fun if she was sitting on his back while he swam and acted like a horse.

He was sure he'd never gotten so much curious stares, but couldn't find it in him to care. If it made the little redhead currently sitting on his back happy, then so be it. He felt her grip on his hair slackening after a few laps so he swam to the edge of the pool and climbed out of the water. As soon as they arrived at their cots Hannah wrapped herself up in her towel and lay down, her head resting on his chest.

He smiled down at her as her eyes closed, kissing the crown of her head as he began to comb his hand through her hair in a soothing motion, soon falling asleep himself.

* * *

Jenny sighed, brushing a tired hand down her face, then a few strands of curly red hair out of her face. She turned her head a bit, away from the papers spread out on her conference table in front of her towards her desk, or rather the white linen duffel bag on it containing her bikini along other stuff she would need as soon as she was out of her office.

She grabbed the next paper, skimming it quickly before she put it back nodding to the three men around her.

"I think this will work." She confirmed their suggestion. "You said Interpol has already agreed to this?"

The director of the CIA inclined his head, tapping one of the papers in front of her with the tip of his pointer finger. "Yes they have. But we still need Mossad in on this."

She raised an eyebrow, giving all of them a hard stare. "I don't want NCIS' role in all this to be confined to get Mossad to agree to this. All of you-" she paused briefly "-have to get used to the fact that NCIS doesn't take a back seat anymore."

SecNav nodded contently, looking a bit like a proud father seeing his daughter graduating, while the directors of the FBI and CIA had a sour look on their face.

"I'm not some eye candy for you to look at when I'm wearing a skirt. I'm as much an agency head as you are, and if I have it my way, NCIS won't be at the bottom of the federal food chain very long anymore." Jenny added fiercely.

The three men nodded, but still looked a bit sceptically. "So if you don't mind I'd like to end this meeting now seeing as I have better things to do on a Saturday afternoon as do you I'm sure." She said getting up.

SecNav and the director of the CIA shook her hand and got out while the director of the FBI remained standing in front of her desk.

"John, I meant what I said. Concerning NCIS' role in this as well as me having something better to do. So if you want to ask me out for dinner again I'll have to decline again." Jenny uttered not even turning around as she picked up her duffel bag.

He shook his head, but eyed her up and down nevertheless. "Look Jennifer; Jenny, after NCIS was through with the car of this accident, you know the couple around our age, he was a Staff Sergeant, Marine, good man- anyways, his name was Thomas Carter and-" her head shot up and she looked at him startled.

"What have Thomas and Susan to do with this? Does this concern Hannah?" She asked, looking at him intensely.

"Er, you knew them?" He asked surprised. She just nodded, not caring to elaborate further. "Anyways, after NCIS was through with their car it came to us cause there were a few similar accidents and we wanted to be able to role out a connotation. Turned out we found a finger print. I just thought you wanted to know since it was your case first."

Jenny smiled tensely at him while her head was spinning. "Thank you John. I appreciate it. Did you get a match?"

He shook his head, looking at her apologetically. "I'm sorry Jenny."

She nodded as she grabbed her stuff, giving him a last smile before she went to the elevator.

* * *

Her mind was still reeling as she arrived at the pools, looking for Jethro and her daughter. She saw them standing in front of their cots, obviously about to go swimming again. Smiling to herself she made her way over to them, trying not be seen to surprise them.

She put her duffel bag down next to their stuff, out of the corner of her eye seeing them jump into the water, hosing an elderly lady in the process. Jenny held her breath for a moments, waiting for the scolding she was sure would come but instead saw the woman smiling at them. She laughed a bit as she saw Gibbs picking Hannah up and placing her on his shoulders while he was still talking to their 'victim'.

She creeped up on them, congratulating herself for not having lost her skills, and stopped right behind them, about to hose them too when -

"Your daughter looks a lot like you, you know? Just like my Katie tended to look just like her father. He was literally the light of her life. It's always so nice for me to see a father loving his daughter just like my husband loved mine." She smiled at them, scrutinizing them intensely. "Those eyes, and the form of your faces, I think that is what gives you away." Suddenly she saw Jenny standing behind them, the redhead paling a little at the lady's obvious observations. "And that's the proud mother I suppose? I must admit your daughter is a perfect mix of you both."

Gibbs stared at her intensely, trying to figure out what she would say, willing her to admit the truth.

Jenny gulped. "I'm sorry she isn't-" She broke off. She couldn't say Hannah wasn't her daughter, because the girl herself was present and Hannah knew better, but she didn't know if Gibbs had already figured out the degree of their relationship. "She isn't his daughter." She finished lamely, but couldn't forbear wishing she'd just told them the truth. The lady was right, a child needed her father. Her own had been so important for her.

The elderly woman smiled apologetically. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know."

Jenny tried to smile too, to brush it off. "How could you. You don't know us."

"Ah, yes. I gotta go anyways." She said, still embarrased.

After the woman'd swum off, Gibbs turned to Jenny, for the first time taking in her appearance. "Quite the bikini you're sporting Jen." He teased gently, deciding to ignore the proverbial elefant in the room for the time being as he eyed the two red pieces appreciately.

She grinned back at him, although still slightly nervously he could tell. "Ahh, and I bet you haven't worn those trunks since Positano."

"Yeah well your bikinis used to be _more revealing -_maybe- too?" Jenny raised the typical eyebrow at that, reminding him of Hannah just a few short hours ago.

"Well I've given birth to child since then, my figure isn't how it used to be either." She didn't realize her slip up till she became aware of him staring at her intensely.

"Jen-" He said, softly patting Hannah's leg that dangled down his front.

She shook her head, rather vehemently, her eyes locking with his. "Later." She uttered lowly as she turned to her daughter.

"How was your day sweetie?" Jenny asked gently, taking the girl into her arms, letting her tell her all about her day with Gibbs. She felt his gaze on the two of them the whole time, sure that he knew Hannah was her daugher, and sure that he was determined to find out who her father was. And that, at the very least, he had already assumptions concerning the latter.

"Jenny." He said firmly, putting a hand on her shoulder, but she just shook her head again. She took his hand in her free one, squeezing it lightly.

"Later Jethro. I promise."

* * *

_So this is it for now. I hope you'll enjoy reading this and that the characters aren't to OOC._

_Please leave a review and tell me what you think, they are greatly appreciated._


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Initially I wanted to update that story sooner, but seeing as I was busy reading (Sherlock Holmes at that and not even NCIS fanfictions hahaha) I had to put this one off for a few days. So here I am again. Thanks for the reviews to the last chapter by the way.

Oh, and I was far too lazy to come up with yet another pair of names for Jenny and Gibbs' undercover aliases so I just took the names I used for 'Moscow Moscow'.

* * *

Chapter five: старший брат - Big Brother

_January 2006_

There was a tense silence in the car on their way home, even Hannah seemed to sense it as the girl was stoically looking out of the window, just like her mother did in the front seat. Jenny groaned softly, this couldn't possibly have gone down worse. She could feel Gibbs' stare on her every few seconds, as if he was trying to find out what was going on just by burning a hole in the side of her head with the force of his gaze.

"Jethro." She said softly, turning her head away from the city rushing by outside of the window. She took his hand in hers briefly, giving it a soft squeeze before she went on speaking. "Let's just have dinner and get her to bed, then I'll explain, okay?"

He looked her straight into the eyes for a moment, his stare hard. "I don't really have much of a choice, do I now?"

She just shrugged, she couldn't really hold his gruffness against him. After all he wasn't the one who had lied to the other for the better part of the last six years. Instead she turned her head a little more, now focusing on her daughter instead. "Hannah sweetie, what do you want to have for dinner?"

The little girl's face was a mask of pure seriousness as she wrinkled her forehead, obviously deep in thought. "What's your favorite meal?" She asked suddenly, looking at Gibbs.

Jenny actually laughed at that, Gibbs wasn't exactly known for his fancy taste in food, and even the man in question had to smile at the child's bewildered expression. "He doesn't usually have dinner like we do honey." She explained, thinking of his habit of eating take out at every time of the day while drinking either coffee or bourbon.

"So what does he eat then?" Hannah wanted to know, eyeing him curiously.

"Italian, Indian, and Chinese." The special agent answered, knowing fully well what Jenny meant.

"You eat _people?_" Came the incredulous reply from the backseat in a no-nonsense tone of voice. The same tone Jenny just happened to use every so often on him.

"Italian, Indian, and Chinese take out." He elaborated, watching as the girl breathed a sigh of relief.

"Like we ate on Monday when we stayed at yours for the night?" Gibbs nodded, as did Hannah as she announced happily "I wanna have Chinese take out for dinner then."

"Look what you did to my child." Jenny growled dryly. "You've turned her into a mini-you! She's already adopting to your eating habits and you haven't even known her for more than a few months!"

He didn't say anything more, just smiled till they arrived at his favorite Chinese restaurant.

* * *

They arrived at home shortly after six, bags of Chinese take out in their hands. Jenny opened the door and let Hannah storm in, Gibbs trailing closely behind, but then obviously thought better of it as he took Jenny's bag from her and helped her out of her coat.

"So you really are my knight then." She teased lightly, refering to their conversation in the bull pen at the beginning of the week. "Chivalrous as ever."

He grinned at her while he tossed their gear over her banister and put an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. "Only for you Jen. And maybe for Hannah."

She smiled dreamily, as if her thoughts were far away, and he didn't dare ripping her out of it, instead he decided to just enjoy _their _moment together. He pressed a light kiss to the crown of her head, something he hadn't done while she was awake for years. Watching how she slowly came back he took her hand in his, leading her to the kitchen. They prepared dinner together together; or as much as there was to prepare when one was just reheating take out; before they called Hannah, taking the food with them to the living room.

Jenny and Gibbs sat on the couch together sharing their food by occasionally eating from the other's plate while Hannah claimed her favorite seat, an old, worn out leather armchair that had once belonged to her father.

They ate in quiet, both watching the little girl opposite to them chattering away carelessly. Jenny leaned back, letting her head rest on his shoulder as she touched her finger lightly to his jaw.

"Jethro." She murmured lowly and suddenly it dawned on her how alarmingly domestic this was. "We let her watch a film, then we can talk, okay?"

He nodded, being just about to say something as her mobile started to ring.

"Fu-" Jenny swore lowly as he clamped his hand shut over her mouth, taking a page of her book.

"I don't think you really want to finish that Jen, your daughter's present." Gibbs scolded her teasingly, amusement glimmering in his eyes. She shot him a glare, somewhere between irritation and wry amusement as she took his hand and put it back to his side.

"Shepard." She answered her phone brusquely as she stood up to leave the room. He heard her uttering angry words into her phone while he turned his attention to her daughter once more.

"So what movie do you wanna watch tonight?" He asked.

Hannah looked at him sceptically as if she was not sure what she wanted, then she stood up and went over to an enormous shelf, containing a few of the trashy romance novels Jenny enjoyed reading, as well as a few of her books on enconomy, and an overwhelming amount of DVDs. The small redhead crounched down in front of it, scrutinizing her movie collection.

"Beauty and Beast. It's my favorite."

Gibbs smiled and nodded, eyeing her softly. "I know for a fact that your mother liked it a lot when she was a child. And it was Kelly's favorite too."

"Who's Kelly?" Hannah asked, still looking at the shelf.

He coughed violently, he hadn't even realized he'd slipped. He was silent for a long time, but it didn't feel right. Even if Hannah didn't ask again, Kelly was her sister, she had a right to know about her, at least a bit.

"A little girl just like you. She was eight." He stopped briefly. "Do you remember the cards I showed you? Or the tape we listened to together?"

She nodded vigorously, sending her red curls flying around her head. "That was Kelly playing."

He didn't say anything else, instead he waited silently for Jenny to come back while he watched the little girl intently, lost in thoughts.

"Jethro?"

He looked up, a bit startled, he hadn't heard her coming in. Her expression was serious and his first tought was _What did she hear?_

"That was Cynthia. The director of the FBI contacted her as I didn't hear my mobile ringing. Obviously there is some kind of trouble with the three letter boys and they want me to come to the Hoover Building."

Gibbs looked at her, he knew what that meant. Their little talk was postponed, indefinitely. He nodded.

"Can you look after her till I come back? Watch a movie with her maybe?" She looked at him as she inclined his head, a sigh of relief escaping her. Then, as if she'd read his thoughts, she said "We'll still talk when I come back. It shouldn't take too long."

He nodded again, so she grabbed her purse and her mobile and put her coat on. Then she hurried over to her daughter and took her into her arms, holding her to her tightly. She pressed a kiss to her forehead and whispered something in her ear, making the little girl giggle in delight. The older redhead turned again and went over to Gibbs, stopping in front of him hesitantly. Jenny raised her head, but stopped the motion mid-way, as though she wasn't sure if she should dare touching him. In a spur-of-the-moment-movement she seemed to overcome it and leaned up, pressing a brief kiss to his cheek, similar to the one he'd planted on the crown of her head earlier that evening.

"Have fun." She said brazenly, patting his cheek and winking at Hannah a last time, then she was out of the door.

* * *

"John." She greeted coolly, her voice still holding an undertone of irritation. The director of the FBI smiled as he shook her hand, but it was a tense one, one that didn't quite reached his eyes. "What is it?"

The tall man flinched slightly, something she'd surely have found amusing if she hadn't had such a dreading feeling in her gut. "Maybe it would be better if we talked about that in my office?"

Jenny nodded and went past him into his office, lauching herself on one of the seats in front of his desk. "Okay, we're in your office, it's a Saturday evening which I would love to spend at home as all of your employees do who therefore won't disturb us, and there is absolutely nobody here who could overhear us so could you finally tell me what this is about?"

The director of the FBI took his seat behind his desk, sighing loudly after she'd finished her rambling. "Like I told you this afternoon, we checked the Carter's vehicle for possibly existing finger prints which we found but didn't get a match to. As ill luck would have it Metro Police called me about two hours ago, telling me that they picked up some guy matching the prints. They brought him here after they'd frisked his belongings and found those."

She waited with bated breath for the other shoe to drop, watching him intently as he slid a folder over to her. She took it gingerly, eyeing first the folder, then the director before she opened it. There were about fifteen photos inside it, the first ones only of Hannah, then a few of the girl with Susan and Thomas, but most of them showed her and her daughter, going shopping, ice skating or to the cinema.

"What are those?" Jenny asked, a slight tremour to her voice.

He cleared his throat, watching her intensely. "Those were found in his apartment, along with about three hundred more printed ones and a few memory cards." He stopped briefly, his eyes focused on the plasma screen behind her. "There were photos of her late parents, of you and the girl, and of Special Agent Gibbs and the girl. And then there were those."

He slid two documents over to her, and another photo. Her hands trembled as she picked them up and read through them. Paternity tests.

"I understand it that you and Agent Gibbs are the biological parents of Hannah Jennifer Carter?" John asked, touching the last photo.

It was of her and Gibbs, kissing in a familiar Parisian alleyway, the alleyway where she should have killed Svetlana Chernitskaya. She felt as if someone was suffocating her.

"Yes." She confirmed quietly, not offering an explanation.

He waited a bit for her to elaborate, but when it became clear that she wasn't going to, he continued talking. "The name of the suspect Metro picked up is Dmitrij Chernitskay." He watched as her eyes widened and the color drained from her cheeks. "He refuses to speak to anyone except you."

Jenny nodded, her grip tightening on the paternity tests she held still in her hands. She felt numb.

"Jennifer?"

"I'll talk to him."

* * *

"Dmitrij Chernitskay, I am-"

"Jennifer Shepard the director of NCIS. Or should I say _Grace Mason_." His accent was thick and there was a smug grin on his face that became even wider when he saw her paling ever so slightly.

"What do you want?"

The man just shook his head, so she used the silence to scrutinize him intently. He was tall and had dark hair and eyes, so different to his sister's, but the nose was the same. The nose and the mouth. She took one of the photos out of the folder, looking for similarities between her and Hannah before she slid it over to him.

"You killed her parents." It was a statement, not a question, so he saw no need denying it.

"Yes."

Jenny nodded, once again focusing on the photo. "Why did you do it?"

"You look smart. You should know." He seemed to be comfortable as he leaned back in his chair, letting his hands rest on the table in-between them.

"Svetlana was your sister."

"And the little girl is your daughter, not theirs." He touched the photo gingerly as he looked her straight into the eyes, his gaze hard and unforgiving. "Love is such a thrilling emotion, don't you think? I was devastated when I found out Svetlana was dead. First I thought it was her misogynistic pig of a fiancé, but then I found out about you." He toyed with the picture, occasionally glancing at it.

"My sister was pregnant, her child would be about the same age as your daughter is."

"I know." She said lowly. It had been the reason why she hadn't shot her there and then, in the deserted Parisian alleyway behind the bar.

"I could have a beautiful niece or nephew by now." He was silent again, didn't say anything for what felt like an eternity. "I've always imagined you as an icy bitch you know, someone who can take the life of a innocent child without so much as batting an eyelid. But then I saw you with your daughter. It took me a while to figure that one out."

"What do you mean?" She felt nauseous. For how long had he spied on them?

"She looked so much like you, but your behavior was confusing. You didn't act like her mother half the time."

Jenny closed her eyes for a bit, this was hitting too close to home. "So why did you kill Susan and Thomas when you knew I was her mother?"

"I couldn't just leave out the build up, now could I?"

She pressed her lips together, willing herself to let her face become blank, emotionless. "How did you find out about me?"

He considered her a moment. "You are beautiful, you know that?" He watched as her cheeks blushed with fury, allowing himself to grin a little. "After Svetlana's death I called in a few favors. They send me the CCTV recordings of the time and place of her death and imagine my surprise when I saw her talking to a petite woman with blonde hair. Then both of you were out fo view, till I saw you again, alone. You were crying, leaning against the brick wall, do you remember?

"You met up with a man, a few years older than you I think. The two of you kissed and he doffed your wig, and suddenly you were redheaded and not blonde and I got a clear view of your face. The rest was a child's play. I followed your every move and called in every favor I could collect, and then I got your names, aliases at first. _Grace Masson _and _John Walters_, how imaginative. It took me a while to figure out your real names, especially as you disappeared off the radar, because of your pregnancy as I found out later. After I'd found you again, I came to America, figuring out what to do."

He stopped again, and she felt even more lightheaded then before when he began to speak again, his heavily accented voice filling the room. "So beautiful, and such a black soul. How could you kill a pregnant woman?" His voice was hard, cutting the air like steel.

"I didn't kill her. She told me about the pregnancy, and I couldn't do it."

"Then who? Who killed her?"

She shook her head, she wouldn't send Jethro to his doom. He'd killed her for _her_, because _she_ hadn't been able to carry out her task. _He _hadn't known Svetlana was carrying a child, so she was as much to blame as he was, even if she hadn't pulled the trigger.

"Who?" He didn't sound sad, or distressed, hadn't sounded sad for the whole time they'd talked. There was just a hollow emptiness in his voice, concealed by a raw fury. She gulped, knowing that that could easily be her if someone had shot Hannah or Jethro, sanctioned or not.

"She was responsible for the deaths of dozens of people." It was a weak attempt to justify the kill, but it was the only one she had.

"Bloody Americans like you and your daughter, or her father." He yelled.

She stood up, turning to leave, she'd gotten her confession a long time ago.

"I'll get my revenge. I'll kill you all." He shouted.

"Rot in hell." She whispered as she went out of the door.

"You will for sure."

* * *

_Well, that became quite dramatic at the end, contrary to the semi-fluff at the beginning. I hope you've liked it nevertheless. The next chapter will be about their talk (finally) but it will probably take me a while to post it, so don't worry._

_Please tell me what you think and leave a review._

**_Thanks to _Enanfran_ for telling me about Dmitrij's surname, all I really know about Russian names is that most Russians have a patronym as addition to their 'normal' first- and surnames. So again, thank you very much:)_**


	6. Chapter 6

Author's note: Thanks for all your lovely reviews. I hope this new chapter will live up to your expectations! There will be many changes of points of view, they are really necessary this time, so hopefully you won't get confused.

* * *

Chapter six: The talk

_January 2006_

Jenny stepped out of the interrogation room and motioned to the armed guard that he could go in now, that she'd finished. She felt numb as she went up the stairs to John's corner office, similar to her own over at the Navy Yard, to tell the director of the FBI that she got her confession. Lateron she couldn't recall anything of their talk, or how she came to her car and drove home, just the overwhelming feeling of relief.

Relief that it was all over now, that she didn't have to live in the constant fear that a probie mistake would come back to hound her; that her daughter was safe.

She stopped the car in front of her house and parked it in the drive way, staying put inside it for a few moments before she got out and walked over to the door. The porch light aluminated her surroundings, and she shivered in the cold, icy winter breeze as she fumbled with her keys to open the door. The redhead gulped one last time as it flew open and she stepped in.

It was all over now.

* * *

They lay cuddled up on the couch in the living room, watching the second round of _Beauty and Beast_, as he felt her head on his chest gradually becoming heavier. He stroked her hair, putting both arms around his daughter's small frame, pulling her into him, enjoying their nearness.

He didn't stop the DVD, instead letting it go on till the end as he watched the little redhead sleep in his arms. She looked so much like Jenny at this moment that it was scary. Slowly he stood up, gathering Hannah into his arms, as he lifted the little girl up softly as not to wake her up. Jethro carried her up the stairs and into her room, tucking her in carefully.

He sat down on the edge of the bed, putting a stray of crimson hair out of her face before he leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"Sleep tight sweetie." He watched her sleeping a few moments before he stood up and went out of the room.

"Jethro?"

* * *

Jenny stopped briefly in the hallway, discharding her purse and throwing her coat over the banister, then she walked towards the living room.

"Hannah, sweetie? Jethro?" She asked. Not getting an answer she turned around again and went up the stairs towards her daughter's room. She heard someone drawing the curtains shut as she saw the beam of light on the floor disappearing. She peered into the room and watched Jethro sitting down on her daughter's bed, caressing her face lightly as he whispered something into her ear before he kissed her forehead.

The redhead smiled faintly at the bitter sweetness of the scene. She knew her daughter needed and deserved her father, as much as Jethro had the right to know about the bond that related them, and they already acted so much like father and daughter that she sometimes wondered if they didn't already know about the secret surrounding them deep inside them.

She leaned against the frame of the door, waiting patiently for him to stand up again. She let her mind drift away, back to the Parisian hospital to the night of the first of September in 2000. Her child being placed in her arms just before midnight, after almost ten hours of labor. She'd just held her daughter, the whole night long it seemed, stroking the few strays of red hair on the top of her head and caressing her tiny cheeks. She'd counted her fingers and toes endless times till she had been convinced that she had indeed ten of every kind.

Jenny was ripped out of her thoughts as she heard the bed creaking and hurried over to her room, waiting for Jethro to come out of Hannah's. He closed the door softly, almost without a sound, after he'd turned around to cast a last glance back at their daughter.

Still smiling softly she let him just stay in front of the closed door for a few moments, still gripping the handle tightly.

"Jethro?"

She had to tell him. It wasn't fair to let either of them wait any longer.

* * *

He turned around and found Jenny leaning against the doorframe of her room. "I didn't know you were home Jen."

"I've just arrived." She took his hand, it felt natural and familiar to them both, and led him down the stairs. "We have to talk Jethro."

He nodded, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.

Suddenly, there was a tense silence in the air, as if both of them knew that what was to come would change them. "You wanna have a drink?" She asked, walking over to the glass cabinet in the corner of her study.

"You think I need one?"

Her laugh sounded hollow even to own her ears, making her realize just how anxious she really was as she gripped the decanter tightly in her left hand. "I'll take that as a yes."

Gibbs came up behind her, stroking her back soothingly, easing the nervousness away. "You okay Jen?"

She forced herself to nod, smiling, as she lifted her tumbler up to her lips, taking a healthy gulp of the amber liquid. "Let's just get this over with, okay?"

The redhead collected her thoughts, wandering aimlessly around the room till she turned to him once again. "When Hannah was born-" She broke off again. "The Carters, they aren't Hannah's biological parents."

He nodded, his face a blank mask, unreadable for everyone except from her. There was no surprise in his eyes, he'd known.

"Hannah, she was born on September 1st, 2000. She was born in Paris Jethro, but to Jennifer Elizabeth Shepard and Leroy Jethro Gibbs and not to Susan and Thomas Carter." His gaze was casted downwards this time so she couldn't read in his eyes. The silence weighed heavily on them as she paced through the room once again.

She wanted to yell, shout at him to say something, but no sound left her throat.

"She was pregnant Jethro." He looked up now, a confused look in his eyes. "Svetlana, she was pregnant. She told me in this alleyway behind the bar, and I just couldn't kill her. I didn't know that I was pregnant at the time, but since I met you-"

She gulped, tears welling up in her eyes. "It was so real Jethro. _We _were so real. And suddenly, there was the possibility. I don't know when, but at one point, I just saw you holding a baby, or playing with a child, and she told me she was pregnant, Jethro. I couldn't kill her. I couldn't take an innocent child's life. And I did it anyway by not telling you about it."

Jenny sobbed silently. He stood up, going over to her, gathering her in his arms. "Jen-"

She shook her head forcefully, continueing in a husky tone of voice. "I was a mess Jethro. I really was. And then you send me to that doctor and she told me I was pregnant- I think it was even worse than before. I'd get what I took from another woman. But I coped, Jethro, I came to terms with it. The week after, it was the happiest week of my life. I thought about telling you the whole time. Do you remember when we were ice skating? I was just about to tell you when that guy raced into you and the mood was ruined." She laughed a bit, it was a strained, gurgled sound, almost as if she was choking.

"I loved you so much Jethro. But then I was alone in our flat, and suddenly your cell phone rang. I picked up, it was your wife, Jethro, your wife. I didn't only get knocked up by my boss, I did get knocked up by a married man. You don't get pregnant because of some work place fling."

He was still silent, but she didn't care anymore, she just kept talking, filling the silence around them with words. "Like I told you, I met the Carters in March 2000. They wanted to adopt a child as they weren't able to conceive, and I couldn't keep my child, but didn't want to give it up entirely. It was _our _child after all. I was in her life all the time, and no matter how hard it was, I was there for every birthday, every Christmas and Thanksgiving. The Carters let me, and I am so endlessly grateful for that.

"This evening, when Cynthia called me, it was about the murder of the Carters. They found a finger print on the car, and today Metro Police picked up the guy it matched to. I spent an hour interrogating him. His name is Dmitrij Chernitskay. He was Svetlana's brother."

They sat in silent next to each other on the floor, nursing their bourbon. "Say something Jethro." She whispered, touching her hand to his jaw. "Just- anything, please."

He gulped, taking her hand in his, as he placed first his, then her tumbler on the floor beside them.

"A few months ago, when you first gave me the Carter case, I let Ziva check their medical records. She found out that Susan wasn't able to give birth, as well as she hadn't seen a gynecologist, or any other doctor for that matter, in the months prior to Hannah's birth. First we thought that maybe she was the child of Thomas and some other woman, but that just didn't add up. So we took a DNA sample and tested it. When Abby called, she requested me alone, so I knew it was personal, concerning either me, you, or both of us.

When I came out of the lab again, I had a five-year-old daughter."

She moved away from him, staring at him with wide eyes. "How long?" She asked, her voice dull. "How long have you known?" She asked again, more forcefully this time.

"Jen-" He reached out with his hand for her, but she brushed it away, angling her whole body away from him. "How long Jethro."

"A bit more than three months. I found out about two days after the Carters were killed." Gibbs said lowly.

"A bit more than three months? You've flat-out lied to me for three months?" She yelled, hurriedly standing up, half stumbling to get away from him.

"You've lied to me for six damn years Jen! You deprived me of my daughter for almost all of her life! Who's worse now?" He yelled back as he too got to his feet.

"I can't believe it! I just explained to you why I did what I did and you make me the bad guy though it was you who went behind my back!" Jenny shouted, her redheaded temper flaring. "Get out of my sight, get out Jethro! I don't want to see you right now."

"Jen-"

"Get out Jethro, before I do something I will regret." She almost whispered, her voice laced with hardly surpressed anger.

He went towards her, once again reaching out with his arm for her, but she flinched away, almost as if she had been burned.

"Jenny; Jen, I didn't-"

"I don't care Jethro." She sat down heavily on a leather arm chair in front of the fireplace, hugging herself while slowly the tears began to fall. "Just go. I don't want to see you right now, and I don't know if I want to see you again soon."

"So you take the coward's way out once again? Do you prefer avoiding a confrontation to finding a solution?" He sneered, his temper flaring too. "And now you are running again because that's what you're always doing, isn't it? Because you can't stand the truth, that this mess is your fault and not mine!"

"You were fucking married and didn't tell me Jethro, not me!"

"I was planning to divorce her when you left!"

"I couldn't possibly know that, could I know? I waited a few days, trying to decide what to do, but you didn't give me a reason to stay and I WAS FUCKING PREGNANT BY A MARRIED MAN!" She cried, the tears falling freely by now.

"Jesus Jen, calm down or you'll wake _our _daughter with your yelling!"

She didn't reply, just hugging herself tighter as the sobs shook her petite frame. "Jenny, please Jen, listen to me, I-"

"Go, just go away."

This time, he didn't fight and didn't shout. He turned around, going to the door. Just as he was gripping the handle, he turned around again, looking at the small woman, almost swallowed by the big chair she sat in. Lowly, just loud enough for her to turn, he said:

"Give _my _daughter my love."

* * *

_I'm sorry guys, I really am. First no updates for a (for me) really long time, and then this chapter is just about 2,200 words without the Author's notes. But I got two good excuses, the first being carnival what we really do celebrate, about six days long without a break,and I had neither the time nor the energy to write something; the second being my new project. Like some of you may now, I'm totally into Sherlock Holmes at the moment and therefore planning on writing a Sherene fanfiction (Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler; based on the 2009 movie by Guy Ritchie)._

_I hope you liked this nevertheless, please leave a review and tell me what you think!_


	7. Chapter 7

Author's note: Thanks for the great response to the last chapter, this really means a lot. I've decided to cut the story short at this point, as I can't really imagine two adults behaving so ridiculously and then doing nothing about it.

* * *

Chapter seven: Making up

Gibbs angrily slammed the door shut as he made his way out of her house, just to feel guilty the second after because he might just have woken his daughter up. He walked towards the car, this time closing the door much more softly and sped off towards the other end of the town. He was in dire need of some bourbon.

He still didn't know what had come over him, he was already sorry for saying that she took the coward's way out, at least for saying it in those harsh words, but at root, he was right. There was no reason for depriving him of a daughter he didn't know he'd had for more than five years. He parked the car in the drive way and made a beeline for the basement, too furios to even think about doing anything else.

He gulped down a heavy mouthful of bourbon, not even flinshing at the taste and picked up the sander, letting the rhytmic movements slowly calm him down.

* * *

She still sat in the leather chair in her study, hugging himself as she heard him slamming the door shut. She was wallowing in self-pity, knowing that he was very much right, that this mess _was _her fault, and with the last bit of raw fury left in her, she hated herself for it.

The redhead stood up slowly and went up the stairs, towards her room, changing in an old, warn NIS t-shirt that had once belonged to someone else and a pair of sweats, and let herself fall into her bed, tossing and turning for about an hour till she came to the conclusion that she couldn't even think of sleeping. Grumbling, Jenny stood up, first to make her way downstairs to her study again, but then stopped in front of _their _daughter's room, the innocent third party included in this mess.

Sighing, she sat down on Hannah's bed, tucking her in again and brushing a few strays of hair out of her face before she lightly kissed the girl's forehead. She observed the sleeping child for a few minutes, letting herself dwell on her thoughts. She knew she would get no rest this night as long as this 'issue' was still between her and Jethro, but for the time being, she didn't even want to flirt with the thought of driving to his house and begging him to forgive her.

She lay down beside her daughter, drawing small circles on the covers till she felt restless again. Jenny sighed as she got up again to get a bag for her daughter's things.

She'd just known it would come down to this.

* * *

Jenny lifted Hannah up slowly, the bag dangling over her shoulder, and carried her out of the room towards her car.

"Mummy?"

She sighed. She'd hoped Hannah would stay asleep till they were at Jethro's, so if things would end even worse, she wouldn't catch on too much of the fight. "Yeah sweetie?"

"Where are we going?" The little girl's voice was still laced with sleep, and just the tiniest bit slurred, and she copped herself wishing that _he _could hear her know, imagining the smile that surely would be on his face.

"To Gibbs. He and I still have to talk about some things." She watched in fascination how the smaller redhead simply nodded and muttered something incoherent before she leaned her head against her booster seat and drifted off to sleep again. Jenny closed the car door softly and sat down in the front seat, speeding off in the direction of his house. She knew there would be no going back once she had apologized, because _apologizing _meant being sincere - something she'd had troubles with even a few hours ago in her study, when she'd vowed to herself to be honest.

She let her mind wander as she drove through the nighty streets of Washington DC, more dwelling on her thoughts than concentrating on the way; so much in fact that she almost drove past his house. She parked her car behind his and buckled Hannah out, carefully hoisting the little girl up. She prayed that he hadn't started locking the front door today of all days, and fortunately for her, she found it unlocked as it had always been. Making as little noise as possible she carried her daughter upstairs to the bedroom, lying her down on the bed in the spare room and tucking her in.

"Mummy's going to speak with your daddy for a while." She murmured to the sleeping child, just to freeze in place a second later as the hidden meaning behind those simple words dawned on her. Her unconsciousness had long since accepted that Jethro was not only her daughter's father, but her _Dad_, the person she wanted her to go to if she herself couldn't help her.

She smiled in the dark, caressing the girl's wavy red hair before she stood up and went down the stairs towards the basement.

* * *

He had long since heard her when she finally came downstairs again, in fact he'd known she was there the moment she killed the engine of her car in the driveway. He'd wondered why it took her so long to come down to his basement though.

Gibbs heard the tapping of her soft steps on the stairs, but stoically ignored her presence, prefering to continue to sand the frame of yet another unfinished boat.

"Jethro." She said, her voice small and almost subdued, completely different to the tone she had used just a few short hours ago when they'd argued in her study. He still didn't anknowledge her though, instead turned towards his work bench, pouring a good measure of bourbon into a can that very well could once have contained paint stripper from the looks of it. He gulped down half of it before he went back to the boat, silently offering her the rest of it with his eyes as they made contact for the briefest of moments.

She took it, _dutch courage_, she thought wryly, a thin smile tugging on the corners of her mouth.

"Jethro-" she started again, but losing track of what she was going to say when he turned to look at her, his gaze hard, almost icy. "Just listen to me for a few seconds, okay? I don't want to hear anything about rule #6 when I'm finished." She warned him dryly, but even the thin smile vanished as he didn't react.

"I'm sorry for what I said to you, I had no right. I know that this is my fault, that I should have told you about Hannah as soon as I found out I was pregnant, but at the very least when she was born. I'm sorry I didn't."

She baited her breath as he just kept looking at her, not acknowledging what she'd said in any way. Suddenly she felt small and stupid as she realized that she was still wearing just her sweats and _his _shirt, and she cursed herself for not having thought about changing before she drove here. Jenny cast her eyes downwards as he didn't respond after what felt like an eternity to her, slowly backing away from him to the bottom of the stairs. She turned around as soon as she reached them, almost running up the stairs. She was just about to slam the door to the basement shut as she heard his voice calling her back.

"Jen?"

She leaned against the frame motionlessly, willing her erratic breathing to slow down.

"Jen, I know you're still there. Come down already, I wanna show you something."

She tore the door open again, a few strands of red hair falling into her face because of the rapid movement. "I'm not some toy you can play with whenever you like Jethro." She uttered lowly, her voice almost sounding bitterly.

He just shook his head, watching her as she sat down on the last step of the stairs again. "Hannah ever told you about the tape we listened to together?" He asked lowly, not looking at her.

"No."

Gibbs nodded. "I wanna show you something Jen." He pressed the play button of an old stained cassette player, his fingers trembling slightly as he did so. The sounds of piano music filled the room, weighing heavily on them both.

_"Bye Daddy, I love you Daddy."_ The voice of a small girl echoed through the confined space between them, accompanied by a tinkling giggle.

"Jethro-" She heard her own voice breaking. "who's-; who is this?"

He stared into the space in front of him unseeingly, it seemed as if he spoke to himself. "Her name was Kelly. She was seven when she sent me this tape. I was stationed in Kuwait at the time, Desert Storm."

She stood up, approaching him gingerly, resting a small delicate hand on his shoulder as she offered him her silent comfort. "What happened to her?"

"She died in a car crash alongside her mother. Shannon, my first wife-" he saw a flicker of incomprehension in her eyes "-witnessed a murder. She wanted to testify against the culprit, but he was an Mexican drug lord. He had them eliminated the next week That was in 1992."

She found herself unable to speak as she looked into his cobalt blue eyes, clouded by now obvious pain and hurting. "When I found out Hannah was my daughter, it was like a second chance for me. She wasn't a replacement, but my possibility to love a human being unconditionally again. I showed her a few of the cards Kelly sent me over the years, and we listened to the tape together. I felt like I was somehow making it up to Kelly by letting her sister get to know her."

Jenny nodded, gulping hard as the actual consequences of her decisions unfolded in front of her.

"I'm sorry Jethro."

He nodded, taking her hand in his as she carefully reached out to him. "If I'd known-"

"It wouldn't have mattered, you left anyway." He said harshly, more harshly than he'd intended to.

She shook her head vehemently as she drew back a bit, but remained her grisp of his hand. "It would have made a difference, I would have understood you."

Gibbs stayed silent for a few minutes before he shook his head dismissevly.

"I'm still sorry." She said seriously, but with just a hint of mocking stubborness in her voice. He smiled faintly, pulling her towards him, and she obeyed willingly, letting her head rest on his shoulder.

"I haven't forgiven you yet." He uttered lowly. "But I probably will."

She smiled, pressing her body even more into his. "And you _were _married and didn't tell me about her. I probably wouldn't have slept with you if I'd known."

"Pity." He murmured back. "You've always seemed to rather enjoy it."

She smacked his shoulder lightly just to press a tender kiss to the one her head was resting on. "And we wouldn't have Hannah."

"And that." He nodded. "I've missed you Jen, you know that?"

Jenny looked up at him, her red hair tickling the skin of his neck. She nodded, then kissed his jaw bone before she let her lips rest lightly on his. She smiled as she felt him moving his lips against hers, pulling her further into him.

"I've missed you too."

* * *

_So, that was the second to last chapter, I hope you've liked it. There is only the epilogue left to come -as I think this story is in dire need of one- which will be mostly about Hannah meeting Gibbs as her _Dad _for the first time._

_Please leave a review to tell me what you think!_


	8. Epilogue

Author's note: I'm really sorry for having kept you waiting for this final epilogue for so long, but there's nothing you can do when real life decides to interfere. Anyway, I hope you will enjoy this last chapter (at least for the time being), even if it is admittedly _very _short. Don't worry, there's a sequel to come, but I need time to sort out my ideas and, even more importantly -at least for me-, I want to publish the other stories I've partially already written first.

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Chapter eight: Epilogue

"Mmph", she grumbled, burying her face in the warm body next to her. Her back hurt like hell, she was cold and her nose felt like it was made of sandpaper. Fucking sawdust.

_Sawdust?_ She grumbled again, she was probably still dreaming; and a rather boring dream at that. She turned again, this time kicking the body.

"Jesus Jen, just stay put for a few more minutes, would you?"

She startled up, red hair falling in her face, half hiding her eyes that were wide as those of a deer caught in the headlights. "_Jethro?_" She asked, just the tiniest bit hesitantly.

"I'm trying to sleep here Jen, just quit talking for a little while longer, okay?"

She coughed as she became aware of her surroundings, taking in everything around her. They lay on the floor of his basement, just about a metre away from his boat to be exact, and she wore comparatively little clothing, in fact only her underwear and a man's t-shirt. No wonder she was cold then. For the third time this morning, she rolled over, coming to a rest halfway on top of Gibbs where it was admittedly considerably warmer. She kissed his jawline lightly before she buried her face in the crook of his neck, her breathing slowly evening out as-

"MOMMY!"

"Your turn Jethro." She muttered. "It has been my turn for the last five and a half years."

"That hardly counts Jen, I-"

"MOMMY!"

"Okay, okay, I'm going, but you're coming with me." Jenny said as she got to her feet, reaching a hand out for him to take. "And maybe you want to think about putting on some clothes. Though I don't mind the view, our daughter very well might."

"Maybe _you _should think about the same thing too then." He gave back, amusement glistening in his eyes.

"Well, she's used to _me _sleeping in men's clothing. Your NIS shirts." She elaborated at his sceptical gaze.

"MOMMY! Where are you?" The distressed voice of their daughter sounded through the house, followed by tiny feet running down the stairs.

"_We're _coming honey." The redhead called back, giving Gibbs a last challenging look before she went up the stairs. "If she breakes her neck running down those stairs it's your fault entirely, just that you know that."

He nodded and picked up his pants and a rather worn tee lying on top of his workbench before he went after her. Jethro found Jenny and -now officially- _their_ daughter sitting at the kitchen table; Hannah's eyes red rimmed and puffy.

"What's up honey?",he asked brushing his hand through her hair.

"She didn't know where she was when she woke up, and when she came looking for me, she couldn't find me." The older redhead said lowly, looking quite guilty.

"Not your fault Jen. Should've thought of that and actually used the bed."

She eyed him sceptically, not quite sure if that was a hint of sexual innuendo in his voice or if he was being serious. "Coffee?" Gibbs asked, already having moved on to a more pressing subject.

"Sure. What about you honey? Orange juice, milk?" Jenny asked, turning to Hannah.

"Juice." The little girl answered, yawning loudly.

"Should've slept a little more sweetie." She commented lightly as she stood up to fetch the juice for Hannah.

"Why did we sleep over at Gibbs' mommy?" The child asked, burying her head in her hands.

Jenny put the juice on the table in front of the girl, combing her hand through her red locks soothingly. "I had to talk to Gibbs, set things straight. I don't like fighting with him."

"What about?" Hannah mumbled. Her mother coughed lightly, turning to Jethro to get his attention, her eyes seeming to ask what to tell the girl. Gibbs just shrugged and abandoned the coffee maker for the time being, going over to the two redheads at his kitchen table.

"Your mommy kept a secret from me and we kinda got into a fight when I told her I'd already known about it all along."

The girl's eyes lightened up at that, her head shooting up. "A secret?" She asked, curiosity evident in her voice. "What about it, I want to know too."

Gibbs crouched down in front of her, taking her hands in his and giving them a like squeeze. "It was about you."

"Me?" She echoed unbelievingly.

"You." He confirmed with a brief nod of his head. "Your mommy told me about your daddy."

"You know my daddy?" Hannah asked, her eyes wide.

"Hannah, sweetie", Jenny said, "Jethro is your daddy."

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_Her daddy._

She closed her eyes tightly and shook her head a bit unbelievingly, that couldn't be true, could it?

"Hannah? Are you okay, honey?" She opened her eyes again, staring into her mother's who had by now crouched down in front of her too. She didn't know what she should feel as she managed an overwhelmed nod at least. She squeezed Gibbs' -_her dad's_\- hand when she finally turned to look at him. He was smiling, a funny smile, somewhere between serious and relieved. She didn't know what to make out of it.

She'd always wished for her _real _daddy to be there with them, even when she'd still lived with her other mommy and her other daddy and technically had had one. The silence felt suddenly creepy and akward, and she wished they could just move on.

"Can we have breakfast now?" She asked, making her mother laugh and _her father _chuckle.

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It was a mirthful laughter that escaped her mouth, relieving as if a great burden had been lifted from her shoulders. She watched Hannah and Jethro angling their bodies towards each other, their foreheads almost touching as both of them were chuckling.

"Breakfast it is then." Jenny said eventually, pointedly looking first at Jethro, then at the coffee maker. He nodded and got up from his place on the floor while she searched the fridge for eggs, ham and cheese. "Who'd like omelette?" She asked, not needing to look at her daughter to know that she indeed wanted one.

"Will this be better than the one you made in Paris?" Gibbs remarked, deliberatedly avoiding her eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jenny asked shrilly, causing Hannah to break out into a fit of giggles again.

"Nothing."

"That damn sure didn't mean nothing, Jethro."

"Nothing as in I rather like my kitchen, thank you very much for neither burning it down nor cooking inedible stuff in it." Their daughter was by now outright laughing but hastily clamped her hands shut over her mouth as soon as her mother turned her head towards her.

"Look what you've done. Five minutes since she found out you're her father and she has already sided with you!" She exclaimed, throwing a kitchen towel at him before she turned around to tickle Hannah.

"Mommy! Mercy! Help me, daddy!" She yelled, half laughing, half crying, tears welling up in her eyes as she giggled so hard. Jethro froze, staring at the two redheads in front of him. It had been so long since a little girl had called him _daddy_ that he'd almost forgotten how good it felt and what it implied. Mutual, unconditonal love. And although he'd known for three months that she was indeed his daughter, it was totally different to hear her actually acknowledging him as her father.

"Jethro? You okay?"

He nodded tightly, a smile that was mirthful as well as sad on his face. He put one of his arms around Jenny, pulling her into him while he stroked Hannah's hair with his free hand, enjoying the feeling of having a family again.

"Maybe you should tell her about them." Jenny suggested quietly. He inclined his head thoughtfully, not needing her to verbalize whom she meant.

"Already have; partially at least. Showed her a few of the cards Kelly sent me for father's day and the tape we listened to together last night. I wanted her to know Kelly, even if she didn't know she was her sister back then." She nodded, she wasn't really surprised by that admission. "Kelly always wanted to have a little sister, one she could look after and play with. She always talked about taking her with her on a ride at the beach or over to her best friend's. I like to think that the two of them would have gotten along well, given the chance."

Jenny smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. Neither she nor Hannah would be here now if Kelly had gotten the little sister she'd wanted back then, but the thought was a beautiful one nonetheless. She kissed his cheek softly, offering comfort as well as baring her weaknesses and fears to him. He squeezed her shoulders a bit tighter as if to reassuring her before he turned his attention to Hannah once again.

They certainly still had a long way to go, but surrounded by the two people she loved the most on earth, there was no reason for her to fear failure.

**-THE END-**

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Don't hate me for the ending now, I already promised a sequel :D! Please leave a review and tell me what you think, suggestions or criticism are welcome too.


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